Method and system for performing a handoff in a wireless communication system

ABSTRACT

A system for maintaining wireless communication with a plurality of base stations in a communication network is disclosed. A portable terminal having a communication unit is configured to measure signal strength of a transmission signal for neighboring base stations in a frequency band being used by the communication unit, and create a first handoff candidate list in which one or more handoff candidates in a same frequency band are recorded. A handoff using the first handoff candidate list is performed by the portable terminal. Thereafter, the portable terminal measures signal strength of one or more base stations included in a second handoff candidate list. The result of the signal strength measurements are reported to the currently communicating base station, and a handoff is performed based on a response to the report at the portable terminal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part based on PCT Application No.PCT/JP2007/063028, filed Jun. 28, 2007, which claims the benefit ofJapanese Application No. 2006-207154, filed Jul. 28, 2006, both entitled“MOBILE TERMINAL DEVICE AND HANDOFF METHOD,” both of which areincorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates generally to a method and system for performing ahandoff in a wireless communication system.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, the reorganization of frequency bands has been an issue inmaking effective use of a frequency band used in a wirelesscommunication system and in conforming the frequency band to the globalstandard. For example, though the 800 MHz band of the Japanese standard(hereinafter, referred to as an old 800 MHz band) is used for currentcommunication using CDMA2000 1x (Code Division Multiple Access 2000 1x)in Japan, the frequency band is scheduled to be reorganized to a new 800MHz band as the global standard. The new 800 MHz band is different fromthe old 800 MHz band in the upstream and downstream allocations of thefrequency band to be used. Therefore, a multiband compatible portableterminal which can establish a communication in three frequency bands,the current frequency band (old 800 MHz band), the new frequency band(new 800 MHz band), and the high frequency band (2 GHz band), has beendeveloped.

In the CDMA2000 1x, one base station has one or more sectors dividedaccording to pilot codes, and one channel for communication is assignedto each sector. The portable terminal communicates with the base stationwith one of the channels, respectively. Hereinafter, a description willbe made using an example in which one pilot code corresponds to one basestation (in other words, only one channel is assigned to one basestation).

The above-described multiband compatible portable terminal uses aplurality of frequency bands, as does the wireless communication system.When the portable terminal moves, for example, the currentlycommunicating base station has to be switched to another base station ofa different frequency band.

A function of switching a base station (communication channel) forcontinued communication is called a handoff (or hand over). The handoffmay include a soft handoff and a hard handoff.

The soft handoff refers to a handoff performed without switchingfrequency, which is a handoff method inherent in CDMA systems. Aftersimultaneously communicating with both the currently communicating basestation (original handoff channel) and a new base station (handoffdestination channel) temporarily, a switching process of the basestations is performed. Specifically, a portable terminal receives aneighboring base station list transmitted by the currently communicatingbase station, measures the signal strength of a pilot signal of eachbase station in the list, and transmits the measurement results to thecurrently communicating base station. The base station determines ahandoff destination base station according to the received measurementresults. The soft handoff is led by the base station.

As described above, in the soft handoff, since the portable terminalalways communicates with one or more base stations, communication is notinterrupted at a time of handoff. However, when two base stations cannotprovide a service to the portable terminal at the same frequency, thesoft handoff is impossible. Therefore, the soft handoff cannot be usedin the case of switching the base station to one using a differentfrequency band. In such a case, the hard handoff is performed.

The hard handoff in the CDMA2000 1x method of the IMT-2000 standardincludes two methods: DAHHO (Data Assisted Hard Hand Off) and MAHHO(Mobile Assisted Hard Hand Off).

The DAHHO is a method of carrying out a handoff to a second base stationdirectly specified by a first base station without a search by aportable terminal for another frequency before the handoff.

In other words, in the DAHHO, since the first base station specifies thesecond base station unilaterally without referring to the information ofthe portable terminal, there is no guarantee that the portable terminalcan acquire the second base station specified by the first base station.Therefore, a possibility of handoff error is comparatively high.

On the other hand, in the MAHHO, the portable terminal receives aneighboring base station (channel) list with different frequency bandsspecified by the currently communicating base station, switches thefrequency to the frequency of the specified list only at the momentspecified by a search instruction from the first base station, andsearches for a base station (channel) in the list. After the portableterminal measures the energy intensity of the pilot signals from all thebase stations (channels) in the list, the portable terminal switches thefrequency to the original frequency again and reports the measuredenergy intensities of all the base stations (channels) to the first basestation. The first base station determines the second base station fromthe base stations in the list according to the reported energyintensities and transmits to the portable terminal an instruction forswitching the communication to the second base station. The portableterminal carries out the handoff according to the instruction.

In the above described MAHHO, when the portable terminal measures theenergy intensities of the pilot signals of all the base stations in thebase station list received from the first base station, the portableterminal temporarily switches the frequency used for communication withthe first base station to the frequency used for communication with thebase stations in the list, and thus communication with the first basestation is interrupted temporarily and a momentary break occurs.Accordingly, there is a disadvantage in that a silence occurs during avoice call.

In order to prevent the momentary break, the number of times and thetime for switching the frequency may be limited. In order to reduce thenumber of times and the time for switching the frequency, the number ofthe base stations (channels) which measure the energy intensities of thepilot signals may be reduced.

In the conventional MAHHO, however, if the number of the measured basestations (channels) is reduced, there is a possibility that an effectivebase station (channel) cannot be found as a handoff destination and thatthe portable terminal fails the handoff.

Therefore, a system and a handoff method for preventing a momentarybreak occurring in the MAHHO are required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The exemplary embodiments described herein are directed to solving oneor more of the problems presented in the prior art, as described above,as well as providing additional features that will become readilyapparent by reference to the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

One embodiment of the present invention is directed to a portableterminal device which maintains wireless communication with a pluralityof base stations in a communication network. The portable terminaldevices includes a communication unit communicable in a plurality offrequency bands and configured to select one frequency band from theplurality of frequency bands to perform wireless communication; and acontrol unit configured to change the frequency band for use in thewireless communication by the communication unit to perform the wirelesscommunication. According to one embodiment, the control unit includes afirst handoff processing unit which, when a neighboring base stationlist including information of one or more neighboring base stations isreceived from a currently communicating base station, measures a signalstrength of a transmission signal for each of the one or moreneighboring base stations in the frequency band being used by thecommunication unit, creates a first handoff candidate list in which oneor more handoff candidates in a same frequency band are recorded indecreasing order of signal strength, and performs a handoff using thefirst handoff candidate list. The control unit may also include a secondhandoff processing unit which, when a second handoff candidate listincluding information for switching the communicating frequency band andone or more different frequency band handoff candidates is received froma currently communicating base station, measures signal strength of oneor more base stations included in the second handoff candidate list,reports the result of the signal strength measurement to the currentlycommunicating base station, and performs a handoff based on a responseto the report upon receipt of the response from the communication unit.

Another embodiment of the present invention is directed to a handoffmethod for maintaining wireless communication in a wirelesscommunication system comprising a plurality of base stations and aportable terminal device configured to perform wireless communicationwith one or more of the plurality of base stations. The method mayinclude receiving a neighboring base station list including informationon one or more neighboring base stations from a currently communicatingbase station; measuring signal strength of a transmission signal foreach of the one or more neighboring base stations in a currently usedfrequency band; generating a first handoff candidate list in which oneor more handoff candidates of the same frequency band as the currentlyused frequency band are recorded in decreasing order of signal strengthdetermined by the measuring of the signal strength of the transmissionsignal for each of the one or more neighboring base stations; performinga handoff using the first handoff candidate list without switching theused frequency band; receiving a second handoff candidate list includingswitching information of the used frequency band and one or moredifferent frequency band handoff candidates from the currentlycommunicating base station; switching communication to a frequency bandbased on the switching information, and measuring a signal strength ofthe one or more handoff candidates included in the second handoffcandidate list; reporting the result of the measured signal strength ofthe one or more handoff candidates to the currently communicating basestation using the original frequency band; receiving a response to thereporting at the portable terminal; and performing a handoff based onthe response.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments of the invention are described in detail belowwith reference to the following Figures. The drawings are provided forpurposes of illustration only and merely depict exemplary embodiments ofthe disclosure. These drawings are provided to facilitate the reader'sunderstanding of the disclosure and should not be considered limiting ofthe breadth, scope, or applicability of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of aportable terminal according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a relation between probability of failure inconnection to a base station and its threshold according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of a basestation and a wireless communication system according to one embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual view showing the strength of signal according tothe positional relation between a portable terminal and base stationsaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing an example of operations of aportable terminal and a base station when using the MAHHO in a wirelesscommunication system, according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of handoff operation ina wireless communication system according to one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 7 shows an example of an E-List according to one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a handoff candidate base station listaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 shows the base stations existing in both lists of FIG. 7 and FIG.8 according to one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

The following description is presented to enable a person of ordinaryskill in the art to make and use the invention. Descriptions of specificdevices, techniques, and applications are provided only as examples.Various modifications to the examples described herein will be readilyapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the generalprinciples defined herein may be applied to other examples andapplications without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited tothe examples described herein and shown, but is to be accorded the scopeconsistent with the claims.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example orillustration.” Any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” isnot necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otheraspects or designs.

Reference will now be made in detail to aspects of the subjecttechnology, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elementsthroughout.

It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps inthe processes disclosed herein is an example of exemplary approaches.Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific orderor hierarchy of steps in the processes may be rearranged while remainingwithin the scope of the present disclosure. The accompanying methodclaims present elements of the various steps in an exemplary order, andare not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchypresented.

A wireless communication system according to one embodiment of theinvention will be described.

A wireless communication system 100, according to one embodiment,includes a portable terminal 1 and a plurality of base stations 2, whichare described in further detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3.

Although the wireless communication system 100, according to certainembodiments, has only one portable terminal 1, it is only one exampleand the wireless communication system may have any number of portableterminals 1.

In the embodiment, the portable terminal 1 and the base station 2 in thewireless communication system communicate, for example, using theCDMA2000 1x method.

The exemplary wireless communication system 100 may be one in whichthree frequency bands can be used: a current old 800 MHz band which hasbeen conventionally used in CDMA2000 1x, a new 800 MHz band of afrequency band at least a little different from that of the conventionalone, and a higher frequency band (for example, 2 GHz).

As shown in FIG. 1, the exemplary portable terminal 1 has acommunication unit 11, a control unit 12, a memory (storage unit) 13, anaudio processing unit 14, a speaker 15, a microphone 16, a display unit17, and an operation unit 18. Of course, the portable terminal 1 shownin FIG. 1 is only one example, and various combinations of these andother components may be included.

The communication unit 11 transmits and receives wireless signals to andfrom a base station 2 through a channel assigned to the base station 2.The communication unit 11 can transmit and receive wireless signals in aplurality of frequency bands. Specifically, a communication can beestablished in each of the old 800 MHz band, the new 800 MHz band, andthe 2 GHz band.

Each of the frequency bands is different from each other and is assigneda band class defined by the 3GPP2 (3rd Generation Partnership Project 2)as an identification number for identifying the frequency band betweenthe base station 2 and the portable terminal 1. For example, the bandclass is used to transmit, to the portable terminal 1, broadcastinformation of the frequency bands of the respective base stations 2existing near the portable terminal 1 in a neighboring base station list(hereinafter, referred to as a N-list: Neighbor-list) in the informationsupplied from one base station 2 to the portable terminal 1. Forexample, the old 800 MHz band is classified as Band class3, the new 800MHz band is classified as Band class0, and the 2 GHz band is classifiedas Band class6. Priorities may be previously assigned to these frequencybands, for example, as follows: a first priority is given to the Bandclass6, a second priority is given to the Band class0, and the leastpriority is given to the Band class3. The Band class and prioritydescribed herein are only exemplary and depend on infrastructuralcircumstances of communication carriers. Various other Band classsettings may be implemented without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

The communication unit 11 identifies the frequency band to use forcommunication with the base station 2 according to the band class.

The control unit 12 may control the entire operation of the portableterminal 1. Specifically, the control unit 12 outputs an audio signal(audio data) included in a signal supplied from the communication unit11 to the audio processing unit 14 and outputs an audio signal suppliedfrom the audio processing unit 14 to the communication unit 11.

The control unit 12 carries out the processing for determining whichfrequency band of the above three is used for communication with thebase station 2.

The control unit 12 makes the communication unit 11 perform a handoffaccording to a handoff request or the like from the base station 2. Thecontrol unit 12 includes a soft handoff processing unit 121 (firsthandoff processing means) and a hard handoff processing unit 122 (secondhandoff processing means).

The soft handoff processing unit 121 carries out the soft handoffprocessing based on a neighboring base station list obtained from thebase station 2 through the communication unit 11 and includes measuringthe signal strength of a pilot signal with each base station 2 in thelist, and transmitting the measurement result to the currentlycommunicating base station 2.

The hard handoff processing unit 122 performs the above-described hardhandoff using the MAHHO. The detailed operation of the portable terminal1 during handoff will be described later.

The control unit 12 measures the signal strength of the pilot signalsfrom the base stations 2 (that is, the strength of a signal in everychannel divided into the pilot signal and the strength of a channelsignal to be used in a radio wave which can be received by thecommunication unit 11). As a method for measuring signal strength, forexample, there is a method of measuring the energy intensity of thepilot signal, but the method is not limited in the invention. Variousmethods of measuring signal strength may be implemented withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

The control unit 12 performs display control of the display unit 17 andperforms various controls according to the operation of the operationunit 18.

Further, the control unit 12 controls the communication unit 11 toperform a position registration and an A_Persistence test describedbelow on the base stations 2.

Hereinafter, the position registration and the A_Persistence test in awireless terminal device (e.g., a CDMA terminal) will be brieflydescribed using the terms defined in the 3GPP2.

One communication system (e.g., a frequency band) has a plurality ofchannels and each channel is assigned to one of the base stations 2.Each of the base stations 2 forms a sector according to the assignedchannel and also forms a sector in another frequency band to cover theband. In other words, some of the base stations 2 may conform not onlyto a single frequency band but also to various kinds of frequency bands.

The portable terminal 1 performs the position registration (the act ofinforming the network of the position of the portable terminal 1 bytransmitting a parameter such as the terminal ID) using one channel, andthereafter the portable terminal 1 can communicate with the base station2. Specifically, at the time of starting up the portable terminal 1, thecontrol unit 12 searches for a channel of a frequency band around theportable terminal. In other words, the control unit 12 controls thecommunication unit 11 to search the frequencies around the portableterminal one after another. There are various search methods, and, forexample, the control unit 12 searches the channels sequentially startingfrom the channel belonging to the system of the highest priority (in thecase of the CDMA2000 1x, primary and secondary channels). In eachsystem, when there is a channel having sufficient signal strength, theportable terminal 1 operates to temporally synchronize with the channel.On the other hand, when there is no such channel, the portable terminal1 searches a channel of the system of the next highest priority. Here,the temporal synchronization refers to a synchronization using a PN(Pseudo Noise) code. In the case of the CDMA2000 1x, the temporalsynchronization refers to a state in which a paging channel can bereceived (e.g., a state in which broadcast information can be received).In the case of the CDMA EV-DO, the temporal synchronization refers to astate in which a control channel can be received (e.g., a stand-bymode).

To carry out position registration in the state where the portableterminal 1 is not connected to the Traffic of the communication system,the portable terminal 1 first performs the A_Persistence test fordetermining whether it is possible to make a transmission to the basestation 2 in the stand-by mode.

The A_Persistence test is performed before the portable terminal 1 thatis not connected to the base station 2 transmits a wireless signal tothe base station 2. The A_Persistence test is performed to determinewhether the portable terminal 1 can transmit the wireless signal to thebase station 2. In other words, the A_Persistence test is performed forthe purpose of preventing the base station 2 from receiving a largenumber of wireless signals at once from a plurality of portableterminals 1 and hence getting into a congested state. By performing theA_Persistence test, the portable terminal 1 can obtain a threshold whichcan be an indicator of resource space of the base station 2.

Specifically, when the portable terminal 1 that is not connected to thetraffic transmits the position registration to the base station 2, theportable terminal 1 performs the transmission in the access channel. Inparticular, when the transmission is performed by using the accesschannel, the portable terminal 1 performs the transmission whileincreasing the transmission power by degrees at predetermined intervals.This is called an access attempt. As a parameter of an access attempt,the result of the A_Persistence Test is used.

The A_Persistence Test may be performed before supplying electric powerto a transmitter included in the communication unit 11. Therefore, inthe case of a message in the CDMA2000 1x, the A_Persistence Test isperformed in the Message transmission of Registration, Origination, PageResponse, and in the case of the EV-DO, it is performed in transmittingUATI Request, Route Update, and Connection Request.

In the A_Persistence Test, a value, called a threshold, is calculated bythe control unit 12 according to the parameter supplied from the basestation 2 and the type of the portable terminal 1 (e.g., for generaluse, for maintenance, and for emergency) c. The threshold is a valuethat is an indicator of the resource space in the base station 2,ranging from “0” to “63”. When the threshold is small, it means thatthere is a lot of resource space in the base station 2, and conversely,when the threshold is large, it means that there is little resourcespace in the base station 2. In other words, when the threshold issmall, many portable terminals can connect to the base station 2, while,when the threshold is large, for example, congestion occurs in the basestation 2, which makes it difficult to establish a connection.

In FIG. 2, the horizontal axis represents the threshold and the verticalaxis represents a probability of failure in connection to the basestation 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the probability of failure is small when thethreshold is small, but as the threshold becomes larger, the failureprobability goes up in a quadric way. FIG. 2 shows that when thethreshold is the minimum value “0”, a connection to the base station 2is succeeded in the probability of almost 100% and when the threshold isthe maximum value “63”, a connection to the base station 2 is failed inthe probability of almost 100%.

Each threshold is calculated for each of the frequency bands describedabove: the current frequency band (old 800 MHz band), the new frequencyband (new 800 MHz band), and the high frequency band (2 GHz band) andstored in the memory 13. Therefore, for example, there can be a statewhere the threshold in the high frequency band (2 GHz band) is high andthe threshold in the current frequency band (old 800 MHz band) is low.

The memory 13 (see to FIG. 1) stores various data used by the controlunit 12 for the above-described processing such as operation,calculation, expansion of information, and storage.

The audio processing unit 14 performs decompression, D/A (digital toanalog) conversion and the like on an audio signal supplied from thecontrol unit 12 and outputs the processed signal to the speaker 15.Further, the audio processing unit 14 performs A/D (analog to digital)conversion, compression and the like on an audio signal supplied fromthe microphone 16 and outputs the processed signal to the control unit12.

The speaker 15 converts an audio signal supplied from the audioprocessing unit 14 into sound. The microphone 16 converts the suppliedsound into an audio signal.

The display unit 17 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display anddisplays based on the signal supplied from the control unit 12.

The operation unit 18 has various operation keys such as a call key, acall-end key, a numerical key, and a soft key and outputs a signalcorresponding to the user's operation to the control unit 12.

Next, the base station 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the base station 2 includes a communication unit 21and a control unit 22.

The communication unit 21 assigns a channel to the portable terminal 1for transmitting and receiving a wireless signal to and from theportable terminal 1. The communication unit 21 can transmit and receivewireless signals in a plurality of frequency bands. Specifically, thecommunication unit 21 can transmit and receive a wireless signal usingthe current frequency band (old 800 MHz band), the new frequency band(new 800 MHz band), and the high frequency band (2 GHz band), similarlyto the communication unit 11 included in the portable terminal 1.

The control unit 22 determines which frequency band of the above bandsis used by the communication unit 21 to transmit and receive a wirelesssignal.

According to one embodiment, as described above, the base station 2conforms to a communication in a plurality of frequency bands and usesthe pilot signal according to the same PN code even when the frequencyband for communication changes.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual view showing the strength of the signalsdepending on the positional relation between the portable terminal 1 andthe respective base stations 2 when each of the base stations 2 conformsto the above three kinds of the frequency bands and uses the same PNcode in the three frequency bands. The thickness of the wavy linebetween each of the base stations 2 and the portable terminal 1indicates the signal strength. The signal strength is the strength ofthe channel signal that can be received by the communication unit 21,for example.

The signal strength of a communication from the base station 2 is moreaffected by the positional relation between the portable terminal 1 andthe base station 2 than a difference in the frequency band for thecommunication. Namely, the signal strength of the pilot signal isstronger when the portable terminal 1 is near the base station 2 and thesignal strength is weaker when the portable terminal 1 is far from thestation. As described above, when the base station 2 uses the same pilotsignal, even when the frequency band for communication changes and whenthe portable terminal 1 obtains the pilot signal strength of onefrequency supplied from the base station 2, the pilot signal strength inanother frequency supplied from the base station 2 can be predicted tosome degree in the portable terminal 1. This can help roughly estimatethe distance relationship between the portable terminal 1 and the basestation 2.

Next, an example of a handoff operation in the wireless communicationsystem 100 according to one embodiment will be described with referenceto FIG. 5.

In the embodiment, the handoff according to the MAHHO is performed forexemplary purposes.

First, an example of rough operation in the MAHHO mode in the wirelesscommunication system will be described.

In the operation example described in FIG. 5, it is assumed that theportable terminal and the base station are in a calling state (undercommunication) from the beginning.

Step ST1:

The base station 2 transmits a handoff candidate searching requestmessage to the portable terminal 1. The handoff candidate searchingrequest message refers to a message to make the portable terminal 1search for a handoff candidate base station 2 in a frequency band (bandclass) different from the currently used frequency (first frequencyband). The handoff candidate searching request message includesspecification information of a new frequency (second frequency band)which the portable terminal 1 should switch to and a list of other basestations 2 (conforming to the new frequency band) existing near theportable terminal 1. Searching refers to measuring the signal strengthof the pilot signal of a base station 2, as described herein.

Step ST2:

The portable terminal 1 transmits a handoff candidate searching responsemessage to the base station 2. The handoff candidate searching responsemessage is a response message of acknowledgment to the handoff candidatesearching request message transmitted from the base station 2 in StepST1.

Step ST3:

The portable terminal 1 switches the frequency band for communication tothe specified frequency band (second frequency band) according to thespecification information of the new frequency band indicated in thehandoff candidate searching request message transmitted in Step ST1.

Step ST4:

In the frequency band switched in Step ST3, the portable terminal 1measures the signal strength of the pilot signal of all the basestations 2 included in the list of other base stations 2 existing nearthe portable terminal 1 indicated in the handoff candidate searchingrequest message in Step ST1.

Step ST5:

The portable terminal goes to Step ST6 when there is a base station 2satisfying a predetermined handoff condition in all the base stations 2measured in Step ST4, and goes back to Step ST4 when there is no suchbase station 2. The predetermined handoff condition is a condition suchthat, for example, the signal strength is a predetermined value. Ofcourse, one of ordinary skill in the art would realize that otherconditions may be included within the predetermined handoff condition.

Step ST6:

The portable terminal 1 switches the switched frequency again to theoriginal frequency used during the communication with the base station 2in Step ST1.

Step ST7:

The portable terminal 1 transmits a handoff candidate frequency searchreport message to the base station 2. The handoff candidate frequencysearch report message is a message including report information of theresult of the signal strength measurement performed in Step ST4.

Step ST8:

The base station 2 selects a base station 2 suitable for handoff,according to the handoff candidate frequency search report messagetransmitted by the portable terminal in Step ST7 and sets the selectedbase station 2 as the base station 2 of the handoff destination.

Step ST9:

The base station 2 transmits a handoff request message to the portableterminal 1. The handoff request message is a message including theinformation about the base station 2 of the handoff destination set bythe base station 2 in Step ST8.

Step ST10:

The portable terminal 1 switches the frequency band and performs handoffto the base station 2 of the handoff destination indicated in thehandoff request message transmitted from the base station 2 in Step ST9.

Step ST11:

The portable terminal 1 transmits a handoff complete message to the basestation with which the portable terminal communicated before thehandoff. The handoff complete message is a message for broadcasting thatthe handoff to the specified base station 2 is complete.

Next, an example of a handoff operation in the wireless communicationsystem 100 (the portable terminal 1 and the base station 2) according toone embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of handoff operationbetween the portable terminal 1 and the base station 2 according to oneembodiment.

In Step ST21, a communication call is carried out between the portableterminal 1 and the base station 2. Before the description of Step ST21,the position registration, the process of obtaining the neighboring basestation list, and the soft handoff will be described.

At first, when the portable terminal 1 is powered on, it performs theposition registration in a base station 2 having the best radiocommunication condition of the neighboring base stations 2. Namely, theportable terminal 1 comes into a stand-by mode for the base station 2having the best radio communication condition. During the process of theposition registration into the stand-by mode, the portable terminal 1can receive the neighboring base station list (N-List/Neighbor List)describing the information about the base stations 2 near the stand-bybase station 2 and their PN codes. Based on the list, the radiocommunication condition in the nearby base stations 2 is determined andwhen the portable terminal 1 moves, it accordingly selects a basestation 2 having a better radio communication condition and changes thestand-by base station 2 according to a change in the radio communicationcondition of each base station 2. Then, the portable terminal 1 receivesa new neighboring base station list from each stand-by base station 2whenever necessary and keeps updating the stored neighboring basestation list.

The case where the portable terminal 1 starts a call in the stand-bymode for one of the base stations 2, not illustrated, as described abovewill be further described. When the portable terminal 1 issues a requestto start a call, the stand-by base station 2 specifies the channel(traffic channel) to be used for the communication to the portableterminal 1. Then, the portable terminal 1 starts the communication withthe base station 2 having the best radio communication condition usingthe traffic channel, and hence it can make a call with another portableterminal 1 through the base station 2 and the network. Even during thecommunication, the portable terminal 1 receives a neighboring basestation list from the communicating base station 2 whenever necessaryand updates the stored neighboring base station list. Further, based onthe updated neighboring base station list, the portable terminal 1intermittently measures the signal strength (energy) from other basestations 2 in the same frequency as the communicating frequency(channel). Then, during the communication, the signal strength of thecurrently communicating base station 2 is compared with the signalstrength of the nearby base station 2 and when the signal strength fromthe currently communicating base station 2 is decreased to some degreeand when there is a base station 2 clearly having a better signalstrength than that of the currently communicating base station, theportable terminal 1 can perform the soft handoff (handoff withoutchanging the frequency) to the better base station 2. In FIG. 6, thestate of communication thus started and maintained between the portableterminal 1 and the base station 2 is shown as Step ST21.

Step ST21:

As described above, during a call, the portable terminal 1 receives aneighboring base station list (N-List/Neighbor List) from the currentlycommunicating base station 2 and updates the stored neighboring basestation list.

Step ST22:

According to the latest N-List received from the base station 2 in StepST21, the portable terminal 1 measures the signal strength of the pilotsignal in all the base stations 2 in the list. As described above, whenthere is another base station 2 clearly having a better signal strengththan that of the base station 2 as a result of the measurement, the softhandoff is naturally performed to this base station 2, but for the sakeof simple description, the case where there is no clearly good basestation 2 will be described here, according to one embodiment.

Step ST23:

Based on the signal strength of the pilot signal in the neighboring basestations measured in Step ST22, the portable terminal 1 creates a list(energy intensity list: E-List, corresponding to the first handoffcandidate list) in which the base stations 2 are arranged in decreasingorder of strength, for example. The E-List is a list showing the firsthandoff candidates of the portable terminal 1.

The processing in Step ST22 and Step ST23 is performed not only for thehard handoff. For example, it may also be performed in the soft handoffcarried out by the soft handoff processing unit 121 during thecommunication. In the case of the soft handoff, the processing of thesoft handoff is performed based on the measured signal strengths. Evenwhen there is no handoff or no reception of a new list, the portableterminal 1 measures the signal strengths periodically and the E-List isalways updated to the latest one.

A base station 2 identifying code shown in FIG. 7 is a code foridentifying a sector of the neighboring base station 2. The measurementresult shown in FIG. 7 indicates the measured signal strength.

Step ST24:

The base station 2 transmits a handoff candidate searching requestmessage to the portable terminal 1. Similarly to the handoff candidatesearching request message described with reference to FIG. 5, thehandoff candidate searching request message is a message to make theportable terminal 1 search for a handoff candidate base station 2 in afrequency band different from the currently used frequency (firstfrequency band).

Step ST25:

The portable terminal 1 transmits a handoff candidate searching responsemessage to the base station 2. The handoff candidate searching responsemessage is a response message of acknowledgment to the handoff candidatesearching request message transmitted from the base station 2 in StepST24.

Step ST26:

The portable terminal 1 extracts such base stations 2 (or sectors) thatexist in both the handoff candidate list of existing neighboring basestations 2 (e.g., the second handoff candidate list including the PNdivided sector information), indicated in the handoff candidatesearching request message transmitted in Step ST24, and the E-Listcreated in Step ST23.

FIG. 8 shows a list including a plurality of sectors as an example ofthe handoff candidate base station list. As shown in FIG. 8, the basestation 2 informs the portable terminal 1 of the candidate base stations2 (sectors) for the handoff destination, and the portable terminal 1refers to the handoff candidate base station list and the E-List shownin FIG. 7 to extract the base stations 2 existing in both lists. FIG. 9shows the result of extracting the base stations existing in both FIG. 7and FIG. 8.

The priority of the base station 2 existing in both the handoff basestation candidate list and the E-List is raised and the priority of abase station 2 existing only in the handoff candidate base station listis lowered. Hence, the base stations 2 may be registered as in the listshown in FIG. 9.

The frequency band is different between the base stations 2 in theE-List created in Step ST23 and the base stations 2 in the handoffcandidate station list extracted in Step ST26. The E-List is a list ofother base stations 2 (PN divided sectors) in the Band Class having beenused before the handoff and the handoff candidate station list is a listof the base stations 2 (sectors) in the Band Class not used. In StepST26, regardless of the Band Class, such base stations 2 (sectors) thatexist also in the E-List are extracted from the base stations 2(sectors) in the handoff candidate base station list based on the basestation identifying code. Further, ranking of the base stations 2 in theE-List may be determined in decreasing order of signal strength(decreasing order of intensity). The ranking of the other base stations(sectors) which are not in the E-List is determined according to thepriority order in the handoff candidate base station list. Of course,various ranking techniques may be implemented without departing from thescope of the present disclosure.

Step ST27:

According to the specification information of the frequency to beswitched to, which is indicated in the handoff candidate searchingrequest message transmitted from the base station 2 in Step ST24, theportable terminal 1 switches the frequency band for communication to thespecified frequency band.

Step ST28:

The signal strength in the frequency band switched to in Step ST27 ismeasured for the respective base stations 2 (sectors) sequentially fromthe upper ranking of the E-List, in other words, in decreasing order ofsignal strength of the pilot signal, for example, of the base stations 2extracted in Step ST26. In other words, as shown in FIG. 9, the portableterminal 1 rearranges the base stations 2 extracted in Step ST26 indecreasing order, for example, of the ranking in the E-List and measuresthe signal strength of the pilot signal in the switched frequency bandaccording to this order, according to one embodiment.

According to one embodiment, the portable terminal 1 performs themeasurement for the base stations which are not included in the E-Listbut included in the list included in the handoff candidate searchingrequest message after the signal strength measurement is completed inall the base stations 2 included in both the lists. When the listindicated in the handoff candidate searching request message has no basestation 2 that is included in the E-List, the signal strength ismeasured in the order of the list shown in the handoff candidatesearching request message regardless of the E-List.

Step ST29:

In Step ST28, the portable terminal 1 performs the acquisitionprocessing for every base station 2 (sector) according to the ordershown in FIG. 9, and at every measurement of the signal strength, theoperation moves to Step ST30 for determining whether the base station 2satisfies the predetermined handoff condition or not. In other words,the portable terminal 1 measures the signal strength of the respectivebase stations 2 sequentially in decreasing order, for example,determines whether the base station 2 satisfies the predeterminedcondition at every measurement of the signal strength for every basestation 2, returns the operation to Step ST28 when the base station 2does not satisfy the predetermined handoff condition, and measures thesignal strength of the next base station 2 in the ranking. According toone embodiment, in Step ST28, signal strength is measured in a basestation 2 next to the base station 2 determined not to satisfy thecondition, in the order shown in the exemplary list of FIG. 9.

On the other hand, according to one embodiment, when the portableterminal 1 satisfies the predetermined handoff condition in Step ST29,the process moves to Step ST30. Thus, since the portable terminal 1 canfind such a base station 2 that satisfies the handoff condition earlierand report the found base station 2 to the original base station 2 assoon as it is found, the time for completing the handoff can beshortened and the disconnected period of time caused by the handoff(e.g., the period of the time when the portable terminal 1 is switchingthe frequency) can be as short as possible. The predetermined handoffcondition is, for example, a condition that the signal strength is apredetermined value. Of course, other conditions may be included in thepredetermined handoff condition as well.

Step ST30:

The portable terminal 1 switches the frequency switched in Step ST27into the original frequency having been used for communication with theoriginal base station 2 in Step ST21.

Step ST31:

The portable terminal 1 transmits a handoff candidate frequency searchreport message to the original base station 2 having been used forcommunication in Step ST21. The handoff candidate frequency searchreport message may include the report information of the result of thesignal strength measurement performed in Step ST28.

Step ST32:

Based on the handoff candidate frequency search report messagetransmitted by the portable terminal 1 in Step ST31, the base station 2sets a base station 2 suitable for handoff as the handoff destinationbase station 2.

According to one embodiment, the information of the sector (base station2) indicating the channel estimated to be in the best radiocommunication condition (e.g., having the highest signal strength) atthe time of transmitting the report should be informed by the portableterminal 1. Therefore, in Step ST32, the base station 2 determineswhether or not a handoff (in particular, the handoff of the frequencyband specified in the hard handoff) to the reported candidate basestation 2 (sector) can be permitted according to the traffic state atthe time of receiving the report from the portable terminal 1. When thebase station 2 determines that the handoff to the reported base station2 can be permitted, it sets this base station 2 (sector) as the handoffdestination.

Step ST33:

The base station 2 transmits a handoff request message to the portableterminal 1. The handoff request message is a message including theinformation on the base station 2 (channel) of the handoff destinationdetermined by the original base station 2 in Step ST32, according to oneembodiment.

Step ST34:

Based on the information on the base station 2 of the handoffdestination included in the handoff request message transmitted from theoriginal base station 2 in Step ST33, the portable terminal 1 switchesthe frequency band to carry out the handoff, according to oneembodiment.

Step ST35:

The portable terminal 1 transmits a handoff complete message to theoriginal base station 2 communicated with in Step ST21 in thecommunication system of the handoff destination, according to oneembodiment. The handoff complete message is a message broadcasting thatthe handoff to the specified base station 2 (sector) is completed, amongother possible information.

Hereinafter, the example of the MAHHO operation shown in FIG. 5 and theexample of the operation according to FIG. 6 are compared.

In the example of the operation according to the embodiment depicted inFIG. 6, the portable terminal 1 creates the E-List in advance in StepST22 and Step ST23, in which the neighboring base stations 2 are listedin decreasing order, for example, of signal strength of the pilot signalin the currently used frequency. In the case where the base station 2transmits the same pilot signal even when the frequency band isdifferent, it can be assumed that, in the base station 2 having strongsignal strength of the pilot signal in the currently used frequencyband, the signal strength of the pilot signal remains strong even in theswitched frequency band, based on the assumption that the signalstrength of the pilot signal is approximately the same even in thedifferent frequency band. According to one embodiment, the portableterminal 1 can regard a base station 2 in the upper ranking in theE-List as the base station 2 having strong signal strength of the pilotsignal in the currently used frequency and can find a base station 2satisfying the handoff condition at an earlier stage by performing themeasurement of the signal strength in decreasing order, for example, ofthe signal strength in the E-List when measuring the signal strengthafter the frequency band is switched.

When the portable terminal 1 is far from an area covered by the basestations described in the E-List, for example, while the portableterminal 1 is moving at high speed, the base stations 2 described in theE-List may not agree with the base stations 2 specified in the handoffcandidate base station list from the start of the hard handoffprocessing. In this case, since the base station 2 specified in thehandoff candidate list is always a target for measurement of the signalstrength, a failure in finding a handoff candidate base station 2 can beavoided according to various embodiments.

As understood from the comparison between FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, when thebase station 2 transmits the same pilot signal before and afterswitching the frequency band, the wireless communication system 100according to one embodiment can be realized by only changing theoperation of the portable terminal 1 and it is not necessary to changethe operation of the base station 2. Since many of the base stations 2established in Japan, for example at present transmit the same pilotsignal before and after switching the frequency band, it may not benecessary to change the operation of the base station 2 in order torealize the wireless communication system 100 of various embodimentsdescribed herein. When the base station 2 does not transmit the samepilot signal before and after switching the frequency band, though theeffect is not expected even when the portable terminal 1 is used, it ispossible to perform a handoff in the same way as in the example of FIG.5 and there is no disadvantage in using the portable terminal 1 of thewireless communication system 100, according to various embodiments.

Although the example in which one base station has only one sector hasbeen described for the sake of simplifying the description of theinvention, the same effect can be obtained also when, for example, threePN codes or more are assigned to one base station and one base stationhas three or more sectors.

According to one embodiment, it can also be considered that a handoffcandidate base station 2 specified by the base station 2 is a channel ofthe handoff candidate and that the PN-divided sector is specified as thehandoff candidate. Also in the E-List, the measurement of signalstrength on the PN around the portable terminal 1 in the used Band Classmay be performed at any time in order to perform the soft handoffbetween the sectors smoothly, and this can also be considered as thesignal strength measurement for every sector.

The invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

Namely, in carrying out certain aspects the invention, variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations, and substitutions may beperformed on the components of the above-described embodiments withinthe technical scope of the invention and its equivalent.

For example, in the above-described embodiments, although the wirelesscommunication system 100 compatible with three kinds of frequency bands,the old 800 MHz band, the new 800 MHz band, and the 2 GHz band has beendescribed, the invention is not limited to these frequency bands. Oneskilled in the art would understand that a wireless communication system100 compatible to a frequency band other than the above-described threeis possible and the number of the kinds of compatible frequency bands isnot limited.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been describedabove, it should be understood that they have been presented by way ofexample only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the various diagrams maydepict an example architectural or other configuration for theinvention, which is done to aid in understanding the features andfunctionality that can be included in the invention. The invention isnot restricted to the illustrated example architectures orconfigurations, but can be implemented using a variety of alternativearchitectures and configurations. Additionally, although the inventionis described above in terms of various exemplary embodiments andimplementations, it should be understood that the various features andfunctionality described in one or more of the individual embodiments arenot limited in their applicability to the particular embodiment withwhich they are described, but instead can be applied, alone or in somecombination, to one or more of the other embodiments of the invention,whether or not such embodiments are described and whether or not suchfeatures are presented as being a part of a described embodiment. Thusthe breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited byany of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unlessotherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposedto limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” shouldbe read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term“example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item indiscussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; and adjectivessuch as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,” “standard,” “known”,and terms of similar meaning, should not be construed as limiting theitem described to a given time period, or to an item available as of agiven time. But instead these terms should be read to encompassconventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may beavailable, known now, or at any time in the future. Likewise, a group ofitems linked with the conjunction “and” should not be read as requiringthat each and every one of those items be present in the grouping, butrather should be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise.Similarly, a group of items linked with the conjunction “or” should notbe read as requiring mutual exclusivity among that group, but rathershould also be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise.Furthermore, although items, elements or components of the disclosuremay be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplatedto be within the scope thereof unless limitation to the singular isexplicitly stated. The presence of broadening words and phrases such as“one or more,” “at least,” “but not limited to”, or other like phrasesin some instances shall not be read to mean that the narrower case isintended or required in instances where such broadening phrases may beabsent.

1. A portable terminal device which maintains wireless communicationwith a plurality of base stations in a communication network,comprising: a communication unit communicable in a plurality offrequency bands and configured to select one frequency band from theplurality of frequency bands to perform wireless communication; and acontrol unit configured to change the frequency band for use in thewireless communication by the communication unit to perform the wirelesscommunication, wherein the control unit includes a first handoffprocessing unit which, when a neighboring base station list includinginformation of one or more neighboring base stations is received from acurrently communicating base station, measures a signal strength of atransmission signal for each of the one or more neighboring basestations in the frequency band being used by the communication unit,creates a first handoff candidate list in which one or more handoffcandidates in a same frequency band are recorded in decreasing order ofsignal strength, and performs a handoff using the first handoffcandidate list, and a second handoff processing unit which, when asecond handoff candidate list including information for switching thecommunicating frequency band and one or more different frequency bandhandoff candidates is received from a currently communicating basestation, measures signal strength of one or more base stations includedin the second handoff candidate list, reports the result of the signalstrength measurement to the currently communicating base station, andperforms a handoff based on a response to the report upon receipt of theresponse from the communication unit, wherein the second handoffprocessing unit determines whether one or more of the one or more basestations included in the second handoff candidate list is also includedin the first handoff candidate list, and measures first the signalstrength of the one or more base stations included in both the firsthandoff candidate list and the second handoff candidate list.
 2. Theportable terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the first handoffprocessing unit is a soft handoff processing unit which performs ahandoff using the first handoff candidate list without switching theused frequency band, and the second handoff processing unit is a hardhandoff processing unit which switches the communication unit into afrequency band based on the switching information to measure signalstrength, and reports the result of the signal strength measurement tothe currently communicating base station using the previous frequencyband before switching.
 3. The portable terminal device according toclaim 2, wherein the hard handoff processing unit is configured tomeasure signal strength of the one or more handoff candidates includedin the second handoff candidate list sequentially starting from thehandoff candidate having the best signal strength in decreasing order ofthe handoff candidates in the first handoff candidate list.
 4. Theportable terminal device according to claim 3, wherein when one handoffcandidate whose signal strength satisfies a predetermined condition isextracted from the one or more handoff candidates included in the secondhandoff candidate list, the hard handoff processing unit is configuredto report the extracted handoff candidate to the currently communicatingbase station.
 5. The portable terminal device according to claim 2,wherein the control unit is configured to measure the signal strengthbased on a pilot signal of a handoff candidate base station received bythe communication unit.
 6. A handoff method for maintaining wirelesscommunication in a wireless communication system comprising a pluralityof base stations and a portable terminal device configured to performwireless communication with one or more of the plurality of basestations, comprising: receiving a neighboring base station listincluding information on one or more neighboring base stations from acurrently communicating base station; measuring signal strength of atransmission signal for each of the one or more neighboring basestations in a currently used frequency band; generating a first handoffcandidate list in which one or more handoff candidates of the samefrequency band as the currently used frequency band are recorded indecreasing order of signal strength determined by the measuring thesignal strength of the transmission signal for each of the one or moreneighboring base stations; performing a handoff using the first handoffcandidate list without switching the used frequency band; receiving asecond handoff candidate list including switching information of theused frequency band and one or more different frequency band handoffcandidates from the currently communicating base station; switchingcommunication to a frequency band based on the switching information,and measuring a signal strength of the one or more handoff candidatesincluded in the second handoff candidate list; reporting the result ofthe measured signal strength of the one or more handoff candidates tothe currently communicating base station using the original frequencyband; receiving a response to the reporting at the portable terminal;and performing a handoff based on the response, wherein the measuringthe signal strength of the one or more handoff candidates included inthe second handoff candidate list comprises: determining whether one ormore of the one or more base stations included in the second handoffcandidate list is also included in the first handoff candidate list, andmeasuring first the signal strength of the one or more base stationsincluded in both the first handoff candidate list and the second handoffcandidate list.
 7. The handoff method according to claim 6, furthercomprising: measuring the signal strength of the one or more handoffcandidates included in the second handoff candidate list sequentiallystarting from the handoff candidate having a best signal strength indecreasing order of the handoff candidates in the first handoffcandidate list.
 8. The handoff method according to claim 6, wherein whenone handoff candidate whose signal strength satisfies a predeterminedcondition is extracted from the one or more handoff candidates includedin the second handoff candidate list, the reporting step reports theextracted handoff candidate to the currently communicating base station.9. The handoff method according to claim 6, wherein the measuring thesignal strength of the transmission signal for each of the one or moreneighboring base stations and the measuring signal strength of the oneor more handoff candidates included in the second handoff candidate listperform one or more signal strength measurements based on a pilot signalof a handoff candidate base station received by the portable terminal.10. The handoff method according to claim 6, wherein the neighboringbase station list is transmitted by the currently communicating basestation.
 11. The handoff method according to claim 6, wherein theswitching information and the second handoff candidate list aretransmitted by the currently communicating base station.
 12. The handoffmethod according to claim 6, wherein the currently communicating basestation determines whether a handoff of the portable terminal device ispermitted to a handoff candidate upon receipt of the reporting from thecurrently communicating portable terminal device, and transmits a resultof the determining to the portable terminal device as a response to thereporting.